Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/7789897.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      A_Separate_Peace_-_John_Knowles
  Relationship:
      Gene_Forrester/Phineas_"Finny"
  Character:
      Gene_Forrester, Phineas_"Finny"_(A_Separate_Peace)
  Additional Tags:
      Fluff, everything's_Finny_and_nothing_hurts, Tags_Are_Hard, Boys_Kissing,
      Resolved_Sexual_Tension, Finny_doesn't_fall, kinda_smutty, Gene_isn't_an
      asshole, Top_Finny, Bottom_Gene, Bottom_Gene_Forrester, Top_Phineas,
      Cute, Swearing
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-08-16 Updated: 2016-10-10 Chapters: 2/? Words: 1654
****** No Longer Separate (But Still Peaceful) ******
by AureliaCee
Summary
     Basically what would've happened (or what should've happened) if
     Finny never fell and Gene never jounced the limb.
     AKA Finny convinces Gene to jump off the tree at night while everyone
     else is asleep.
Notes
     Hey guys, this is my first fic, like, ever. Please bear with me, as
     this is not beta-ed (beta-d? betad? betaed? idk honestly) and all
     mistakes are my own. Also, I haven't read the book in quite a while,
     so I'm sure you will be able to find innaccuracies in my
     descriptions. Even so, I hope you like it.
***** Bang the Doldrums *****
Gene stared at Finny as he prepared to jump. He was beautiful. There was no
other word to describe him. The sun hit him just right and he seemed to take on
an otherworldly glow. His smile was radiant and open, giving the impression
that he had just heard that he had won the lottery. This is why it came as a
shock to Gene when a little thought at the back of his mind told him that it
would be a good idea to jounce the limb with his leg and make Finny fall,
shattering the perfect beauty that never should have existed in the first
place.
Now Gene was pretty smart, he got good grades, he understood most of what was
taught to him, so when this thought approached him, he shook it off as just
another weird impulse, like when you see a fire burning and get the sudden
desire to stick your hand in it. It made no sense, so he wouldn’t do it.
Despite this resolution, he didn’t quite trust himself.
He called out, “Finny, don’t jump!”
Finny stepped closer to Gene, question written all across his face, “What’s
gotten into you? You were fine with this yesterday?”
He had to come up with an excuse, and fast.
“Um, the wind is too strong today, we should wait.”
“What? There’s no wind, stop being ridiculous.”
Fuck. “Look, I’m just not feeling it right now, okay?”
“Is everything alright, Gene? You look pale. Like, more than usual,” Finny
looked concerned.
“Can I tell you about it later?” Gene pleaded with him.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Fine, “Finny said and then pulled Gene close to him,
“But we’re coming back tonight, okay?”
He nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Gene prayed to whoever might be listening that
the thoughts that plagued him earlier would be gone by tonight.
Together, they clambered down the tree, Gene helping Finny down the last few
rungs.
“Thanks, mate.” Finny said, with that same resplendent smile.
Gene couldn’t help but stare as Finny went to retrieve his clothes from the
ground; all of his muscles shifting in the daylight. Here came that feeling
again, the one he’d once identified as envy, but now knew went a bit deeper
than simple jealousy. Shaking it off as best he could, he bent over to grab his
own clothes, completely unaware of the turquoise eyes that were locked on to
his backside. He went about clothing himself, wondering how on earth he and
Finny were going to sneak out that night. Gene went to ask him just that, and
turned around in time to catch his eyes snap upwards to meet his own. Finny had
a loose grin on his face, almost a smirk, and his eyebrows were raised
slightly. This was a familiar face to Gene, this was the face Finny made every
time he got caught doing things he wasn’t supposed to do. What in the world was
he up to? Gene was now fairly suspicious of his friend.
The question Gene was prepared to ask was long forgotten when Finny grabbed his
hand and dragged him in the direction of their dorm.
“Finny,” Gene hissed, “What the hell are you doing? Someone’s gonna see us!”
Finny shrugged, “So? They see us everyday, why are you shy now?”
“Well, we’re not holding hands everyday, now are we? They’re gonna think we’re
a bunch of fairies. I don’t need to be known as ‘Gene the Queer’ for the rest
of my time here!” Damn Finny and his confidence.
“Eh, they can think we’re hunting Bigfoot with plastic sporks as weapons for
all I care. They don’t matter, mate.”
Gene rolled his eyes and trudged along behind him, still connected by the
palms. “And we’re going back to our room because...why?” he said.
“Because I forgot to do my Latin assignment and you’re going to help me with
it.”
“Finny, it’s just conjugations, we learned that a long time ago.”
“Well, frankly, I don’t remember shit, so if you would be so kind as to help
your best friend out here…” Finny’s voice trailed off as he gazed at Gene with
his well-practiced puppy-dog face.
“Fine, fine, but you owe me.” They had just reached their door and Gene watched
Finny struggle to unlock it.
“That’s okay, you know I’ll do anything,” his voice dropped a few octaves as he
emphasized, “Anything, to please you.” Finny turned the key with triumph and
pushed open the door.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Gene cried as his roommate walked
backwards into the dorm.
Finny just winked and laughed, “Whatever you want it to mean.”
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Summary
     Gene gives Finny a hand with his Latin; Finny gives Gene a hand with
     something else.
Chapter Notes
     Thank you, thank you, thank you for being so patient with me. School
     started up and I totally forgot about this. Anyway, here's a new
     chapter! I'm not sure how far I'm gonna take this, but I'm open to
     suggestions! Comments are always welcome and appreciated!
“So take ‘amare’ for example, right?” Gene pointed at the conjugation chart in
his notes, “If you’re the one doing the action, you take the root and add ‘o’.”
“So ‘amare’ would become ‘amaro’?” Finny asked.
“No, Finny come on! The root of ‘amare’ is ‘am’. We literally just went over
that.”
“Oh, right. So it’s ‘amo’!” he said triumphantly.
“Yeah, that’s it. That’s the last conjugation, right?” Gene looked at the
clock; it was 10:00.
“Yeah, man! Couldn’t’ve done it without you, babe!” Finny stood up from the
desk where they were working and kissed Gene on the cheek, “Te amo!”
What. The. Fuck.
“Finny, what the hell was that!?” And why did it make his heart beat so fast?
“Hey, you didn’t forget about jumping tonight, did you?” Finny asked,
effectively steering the conversation in a different direction.
He grabbed Gene’s hand again and pulled him from his chair, out the door, and
through the hallway, until they were outside, and then released his hand. Any
relief that Gene felt was short-lived, because his dear friend thought it was
appropriate to sling an arm around his waist in a manner that didn’t really
suit two guys who were in an extremely-platonic-thank-you-very-much
relationship. He made efforts to push away any unbidden thoughts that could
turn what was an awkward situation even more awkward, and focused instead on
psyching himself up to the jump that seemed to actually get harder with time.
He knew that it was unlikely that he would fall, but the fear was still very
much present in his mind.
Gene was still thinking about his untimely death when the two boys reached the
branch that they jumped from.
“Gene, are you even listening to a word that’s coming out of my mouth?” Finny
said, pretending to be angry.
“I’m sorry. Got lost in my thoughts for a second there,’ Gene apologized.
“As I was saying, we should jump together this time, since it’s just the two of
us. What do you think?”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” Gene figured it would probably be easier like this anyway.
He wasn’t expecting Finny to grab his hand again, though.
Finny counted to three, and they jumped. With the wind whistling in his
ears,and his best friend by his side, Gene felt complete. When they hit the
water, neither of them could stop smiling, even as they fought their way to the
surface, gasping for air. The boys dragged themselves onto the shore and sat in
amicable silence, catching their breath and leaning on one another for support.
After their breathing evened out, Gene started rambling about how much easier
it was, jumping with Finny, and how, in the morning, he had been so scared that
he was going to hurt the one person who was there for him, no matter what.
Finny looked into his eyes the whole time.
“ I mean, I don’t know why I was thinking like that, Finny! What’s wrong with
me? If you got hurt because of me, I’d never forgive myself, ever. And
besides––"
"Gene?"
"What?"
“Stop talking,” and just like that, Finny kissed him.
The kiss started off slow and innocent; just lips moving together, pressed
tight. Gene’s heart was pounding, and he couldn’t help but smile against
Finny’s mouth. Fingers wound their way into Gene’s hair, tugging slightly, and
arms looped themselves around Finny’s neck, pulling him close. Reluctantly,
Gene was the first to pull away.
“What was that?” Gene’s brows were furrowed, but he was still smiling.
“Gosh, you really are innocent,” Finny replied, “That was a kiss, it’s
something people do when they really care about each other and––”
Gene smacked him upside the head, “I know what a kiss is, you doofus.” He was
still smiling and couldn’t help but pull his friend close once again.
This time, the kiss was rougher, with teeth clashing and tongues wrestling.
Finny, being stronger and larger than Gene, ended up on top of him with one
hand tangled in his chestnut hair, and the other found itself worming its way
up under his shirt. When the hand was halfway up Gene’s chest, it made the
executive decision to go in the opposite direction and unbutton his pants.
“Finny what––” Gene stammered.
“Shhh, relax babe, I’ve got you.”
And that’s all it took.
Soon, Finny was unbuttoning his own pants and wrapping a hand around both of
their cocks. His tight grip and even movements had both boys coming to pieces;
breathing harshly into each other's mouth and praying that no one made the
random decision to head over to the river. The night was silent except for
broken moans and the quiet chanting of names. They drew closer to climax, and
as Finny stroked upwards, sliding his finger over Gene’s slit, they lost it,
coming all over their stomachs and Finny’s hand.
Chests heaving, they lay in silence, their ragged breathing the only sound to
be heard in the warm summer air. Gene snuggled closer to Finny, sweaty, but
sated, and the last thing he remembered was the beautiful look in those
turquoise eyes as he fell asleep, hoping beyond hope that this wasn’t a dream,
and he’d wake up tomorrow, happy and safe in Finny’s arms.
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